As Balazs told The Wall Street Journal: "It's a very residential community and they managed to make a design that pissed off the neighbors immediately. That's a mistake. That's not what we're going to be about."

Meanwhile, we heard from a few amused-horrified residents who passed along this link to a piece in UrbanDaddy yesterday about the new hotel's new restaurant. The Restaurant at the Standard East Village opens today. Aside from things like burgers ($15) and BLT turkey clubs ($12), the eatery sports an outdoor ping-pong table.

As only UrbanDaddy can do:

The vibe here: distinctly more laid-back than its MePa sibling. A little world wearier. Just a little readier to kick your ass and take your name at the patio ping-pong table that calls to you from among the wooden furniture and gardens.

We see you hustling the naive masses, lime-lingonberry-puree-infused cocktail in hand, in front of an awed crowd, giving a clinic on the art of topspin.

The hotel manager claims that the urbandaddy story is totally false; the standard has not finalized its plans for it's restaurant (ie he denies the ping pong concept.) certainly the standard's neighbors would not be happy with outdoor ping pong noise and hopefully the standard gets it.

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